Regulatory and Washington

ATLANTA — Between 2006 and 2010, 1-in-9 sexually experienced women between the ages of 15 and 44 years had used emergency contraception at least once, the National Center for Health Statistics noted in a report released Wednesday. Use of emergency contraception, such as Plan B One-Step, was the most common among women between the ages of 20 and 24 years, those who never married, Hispanic or non-Hispanic white women, and those who attended college. 

That compares with 2-in-5 women who used emergency contraception in 2002 and fewer than 1-in-10 women in 1995. 

RARITAN, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has given a special designation to a cancer drug under development by Johnson & Johnson and Pharmacyclics, the companies said.

J&J subsidiary Janssen Research & Development and Pharmacyclics announced that the FDA had given breakthrough therapy designations to the experimental drug ibrutinib as a standalone therapy for relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma in patients who have received prior therapy and for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Community Pharmacists Association on Wednesday announced its federal and state legislative priorities with the release of the Independent Community Pharmacy Checklist. The one-page document details the main legislative actions NCPA and its members will advocate for this year at the federal and state levels. 

ALBANY, N.Y. — A new report indicates that a shortage of physicians could adversely affect the implementation of healthcare reform.

WASHINGTON — More than seven dozen members of the House of Representatives are urging the U.S. Postal Service to continue delivering medications to all Americans six days a week.

WASHINGTON — Some people liked President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, and some people didn't, and the response from the drug industry was no less mixed.

The Generic Pharmaceutical Association called for measures to lower healthcare costs, including ensuring that generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars reach patients' hands quickly and also avoiding measures intended to provide savings that the GPhA said would raise prescription drug costs, though the grow didn't specify what those measures were.

WASHINGTON — Retail sales were up slightly in January as the increases in payroll taxes and energy prices forced consumers to change spending habits, according to a new report by the National Retail Federation.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores made its voice heard in the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on the role of pharmacists in influenza vaccination, the retail pharmacy lobbying group said Wednesday.